“We love you too, yaya. Asa lagi ka karon? (Where are you now?),” replied Mama after receiving my New Year’s greeting. I just finished witnessing the city burst into orgasmic colors at the view deck somewhere Transcentral Highway. I was supposed to leave Cebu to pursue something entirely new, but Seniang delayed my plans for two days. It was good in a way. In the past eleven years of residing in the city, I never had had the chance to stroll around days before the year ends. I would be on my way home, or my idea of home: Tuburan, via the silent, […]

I was at the port by 11:30 a.m., quite unusual for me who had made others wait for more than two hours. According to an online guide I read, the boat would leave by noon or 1 p.m. There is only one passenger boat every day, and I could not possibly miss it or else I would have to shell out a hefty Php5,000 or so to reach my destination. At Estancia Port, I was the earliest passenger. Boatmen were busy loading the sides with pieces of styrofoam. They would be used as buoys for a crab farm. Despite the […]

I passed port security without a ticket. I had no idea which ship my mountaineer friends board. They were not at Pier 3. I boarded the ship without really knowing if it was the right one. I missed my phone at my nook. The adventure began.